Kyiv - a city comparable with Paris :)

I arrived in the night in Kyiv-Pass after a 24 hours trip by train. I was really tired because I was not able to take enough sleep in the train. The whole trip was really exciting, most of the times I felt every step of the tracks and the train was not running really fast. Now I understand why.  So my deep sleep was missing and I was happy when I arrived in Kyiv and was looking forward to a nice bed somewhere. I was supposed to be picked up by a member of AIESEC in Kyiv, his name is Dania. But I realized really fast that he was not at the station when the train arrived at platform 13. So I was waiting on the platform for 30 minutes and I started to think, okay, so no German punctuality.  They woman from the train who invited me for a meal in her cabin was also taking care about me. She asked if everything is okay, if there will be someone picking me up or if she can do anything for me now. I was really affected by her attitude towards me as a foreigner but I told her that everything is okay and I’m really thankful. So she left after we hugged each other and afterwards I started to call Dania several times and he always told me he will be there in five minutes. After the third call I thought that 5 minutes in Ukraine means maybe 30 minutes and I started to walk over the bridge of the station to the main building. After another 15 minutes Dania finally arrived and I was very happy not to be in troubles maybe having to sleep under any Dnepr-Bridge.  So we went to his flat which is situated on the right side bank of the river nearby the Metro station Kharkivs’ka (Харківська). So my great adventure in Kyiv started.

The next day after a long sleep in a more than comfortable bed Dania and I started to go to the city centre of Kyiv. He showed me around some special sights in the centre. This Saturday also some other people (trainees who are now on their Internship with AIESEC in several cities in Ukraine) were supposed to arrive in Kyiv for a reception event organized by the Local Committee in Kyiv. So I met lots of new people like Firat from Turkey, Mario from Mexico and Juliana from Brazil and of course also lots of Ukrainians from Kyiv. It was organized a quest around the city centre in order to get to know all important sights in a funny way. It was very, very entertaining afternoon with lots of different activities like making a knot with a belt without using the hands or also getting 20 UAH (Ukrainian Griwnas) for any activity from any person on the street. My team was just at the second place at this moment, but thanks god I had some German Chocolate with me and I and my team decided to approach any girl on the street trying to sell her the very delicious chocolate.  And we had been successful within the next two minutes, approached tow very exciting girls and sold the chocolate immediately. I was very glad that I met these two girls, who had been very open minded as well and spoke English with me. They both were really interested in our quest and also be surprised that we approached them. But moreover my team overtook the leading team while the team members were still thinking about what to do to earn 20 UAH. At the end we and the other team had been altogether in the same minute at the finish; so we all got the first price and had been very happy.

During the quest I was able to realize how beautiful the city Kyiv is and how much it had developed the last years. Maybe I was expecting something like former socialism character of the city, something more or less Soviet Union style, but I was totally wrong. I was more than surprised about the sights and the beauty of the capital of Ukraine. Everything appeared in nice colours, mostly all building had been renovated and the city centre is moreover able to stand any comparison with other Western European capitals.  I really felt in love with Kyiv and I know for sure that I have to come back as soon as possible and to get deeper into Kyiv and experience also more the Ukrainian sides, suburbs and less developed districts.